


Director's Cut - Varian has Problems with PTSD - Princesses, Trust, Snow, and Dad

by Royalsciencenerd



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Behind the scenes edition, Big Brother Eugene, Dissociative Amnesia, F/M, Gen, Post-Episode: s03e19 Plus Est En Vous, Ruddiger the emotional support raccoon, Snow, Varian has PTSD, Xavier appreciation fic, basically me and my beta giving commentary throughout the story because why not?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27247942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Royalsciencenerd/pseuds/Royalsciencenerd
Summary: Original: When a snowstorm hits Corona, Varian finds himself stuck living in his past. Luckily, this time he's not alone - Eugene will always be there for his friend. If only Varian could see it that way.I'm calling this version a "director's cut," but it's basically the original fic with commentary from me and my beta written in with it. So if you've ever wondered what goes on during the editing process - this is it! :D (Spoiler alert: it's more us just cracking jokes than actual editing)
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Varian, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel, Quirin & Varian (Disney), Rapunzel & Varian (Disney), Ruddiger & Varian (Disney), Varian & Xavier the Blacksmith (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 25





	Director's Cut - Varian has Problems with PTSD - Princesses, Trust, Snow, and Dad

**Author's Note:**

> For the actual fic, trigger warnings for PTSD and dissociative amnesia. For the commentary, I cussed a little, and there's some innuendos, but I think it's still teen. Someone yell at me in the comments if I need to change the rating. 
> 
> I guess you can technically read this without reading the original, but the original will be easier to read since it doesn't have all our commentary interspersed between the fic. For those of you who are giving this director's cut version of the fic a chance - thank you! :) So a little insight into how my writing/editing process works: I write the fic/chapter/etc., edit it myself, then I call/facetime my beta and read it to her. So if you've ever wondered why there's still typos after I edit stuff, it's because she never actually sees the written fic, just listens to it for characterization issues/plot holes/etc. Anyways, so while I was reading this fic to her, she asked why no one ever does a behind the scenes look at how fics are made (I tell her about all the fics I read because she isn't big on actually reading - she just likes listening), and I told her probably because people either don't have a beta, or people don't think their readers would care. Long story short, she insisted we show you all the behind the scenes of the editing process, and well, here we are. I will most definitely regret posting this, but whatever.... So welcome to an insight into our craziness, and what it takes to makes these fics. I hope you all enjoy! :D
> 
> Underlined and italicized lines are my beta. Bold lines are me. Everything else is the fic. Yes, I know it's difficult to read. I had it in multiple colors, but archive doesn't have colors so that's sad, but I made it work. I think....

_ “Maybe we should call it the director’s long cut instead of director’s cut….” _

**“I’m still torn between writer’s and director’s cut….”**

~~~Varian~~~

“There. That should do it!” Varian smiled, nodding at Ruddiger, as he put the finishing touches on his latest device. He was just about to test it when one super enthusiastic princess burst through the doors to his lab.

“Varian! What are you still doing in here?!?” she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Well, Rapunzel, I was just putting the finishing touches on-”

“Come on, come on, come on!” she shouted, grabbing his arm and beginning to drag him out of his lab. _“Freaking rude – Rapunzel has no respect for the scientific process. Let it be known- Rapunzel is anti-science, because she’s too selfish. Rapunzel thinks she’s better than science.”_ **“Agreed that she’s selfish, but she did contribute to the science fair.”** _“Wooooowwwww… she made a fan.”_ ***laughs for like a solid 10 minutes*** _“Where’s the lie?”_

Varian stumbled along behind her. “Whoa…. What’s going on?!?” he asked.

Rapunzel turned, letting go of his arm. “It’s a snow day! Now come on! Last one out there has to be partners with Eugene for the snowball fight!” _“No one here would be upset about that…. Bold of her to assume Varian wanted to be her partner….”_ **“If I was told I would have to be partners with Eugene if I was the last one out of the castle, I would become a sloth I’d walk so slowly. He’s my man. Fight me other fangirls. (JK JK, I have no money and I’m weak).”**

Eugene groaned, appearing in the lab’s doorway. “Sunshine, just because I don’t like snow, doesn’t mean I won’t still win the snowball fight. And I don’t see what all the fuss is about anyways. I mean, it’s _snow_.”

Rapunzel smiled. “Exactly! Who doesn’t love a snow day?!?” _“A lot of people. Any public school in America.”_ **“People like us who like the heat.”**

Eugene made to object, but Rapunzel continued.

“Now come on, Varian! As official almost Queen I hereby decree that you, my royal engineer, must help me build the most stupendous snow fort, so we can destroy the royal guard in our snowball fight!” _“Is that not an abuse of power? She’s being real liberal with her queen powers/duties.”_ **“ALMOST Queen….”**

Varian chuckled, pulling on his coat, allowing Ruddiger _*high pitched squeal – “RACCOON!!!!! Ruddiger is my favorite animal EVER! Also, what happened to Pascal?”_ **“Shut up!”** _“You forgot him, didn’t you?”_ **“Yeah…. Which is ironic because he’s one of my favs…. He’s just so small- sometimes I forget.”** to climb onto his shoulders. “I don’t think Stan and Pete can take another loss from us.” _“I don’t think Stan and Pete have the self-esteem left. They’re my favorite idiots.”_ **“I thought we were your favorite idiots.”** _“You’re right – they’re my second favorite idiots.”_

Rapunzel giggled. “Yeah but that was with paintballs. This is snow. It’s going to be a lot more fun!” _“Uh-huh. ‘It’ll be fun,’ she said. ‘Nothing will go wrong,’ she said.”_ **“RIP Varian.”** _“All the fangirls send out a prayer for our poor traumatized boy.”_ ***Me reading back added quotes* - “send out a prayer to our traumatized boy. Wait, no I mean for him. My bad. Lol.”** _“And on this day, you have made a cult. I’m telling our College Minister.”_ **“My bad….”** _“Hey! There are worse cults to be in.”_ With that she ran down the hall cheering about all the fun they’d have on their snow day. **“Fun- hehe….” *Evil laugh*** _“She has complete disregard for everyone else’s feelings about the snow day.”_ **“You have no idea.”** _“@Rapunzel, your Gothel is showing.” _**“Yikes!”**

Varian glanced at Eugene, who just shrugged, before they both raced down the hall after the princess. Once outside, Varian began to help Rapunzel build her snow fort.

“And if we angle this wall here, we can allow for maximum defensibility, while also being able to mount a strong attack,” Varian smiled as he helped Rapunzel pack the snow into place.

“Well, what do we have here?” Eugene smirked, leaning over their ice wall.

“None of your business, Captain,” Rapunzel smirked. _“OOOOOHHH…. Burn! Fight! Fight! Fight!”_ **“How many O’s and H’s is that?”** _“5 O’s 3 H’s to be exact.” *laughs*_

“Oh, so that’s how we’re going to play it…. My apologies, your majesty,” Eugene laughed as he dropped into an exaggerated bow.

“Don’t you have your own fort to be working on?” Varian asked, gesturing to where Stan, Pete, and a few other members of the royal guard were attempting to build a wall. _(“‘Fort’” *laughs*) _One look at it, and Varian knew they weren’t packing it tightly enough. It was only a matter of time before- Varian grimaced as the wall fell, burying the men in a mound of snow.

Eugene frowned as he watched his men’s latest attempt at building a defensive structure fail. This was going to be a short fight. One that Rapunzel and Varian would gloat for weeks over. Well, at least Cassandra wasn’t here to witness it.

“Well I just came over here to see if I could borrow the other half of Team Awesome,” Eugene replied. He’d need the alchemist’s help if he and his men stood a chance at winning.

Varian perked up at their team name, but Rapunzel stepped in front of him, putting an arm out to hold him back. “No way, Eugene! You know the rules. Castle staff verses palace guards. Winners take on the townsfolk. And Varian, as the royal engineer, is one of us.” She smiles, giving Varian a wink.

“Well, actually, Ra-pun-zel…,” Eugene sighed as if stating the obvious. “The kid has helped on many military grade operations, and therefore, is an honorary part of the guard, so he belongs with us.” _“You know what this reminds me of?”_ **“What?”** _“You know how offices will have those team-bonding days? This might be the worst one yet.”_ **“Well, it was Rapunzel’s idea….”** _“She really said ‘take a vacation day,’ but also ‘play with me in the snow.’ Talk about selfish….”_ **“People are going to hate us for dissing Rapunzel.”** _“Are we wrong though? Some bitter 10-year-old is going to complain in the comments – ‘how dare you diss a princess, you wish you had a castle and a hot boyfriend.’”_ **“Ouch…. To be fair, most people I talk to in the comments are around our age, and also dislike Rapunzel because she sucks. But to be fair, I read and write Varian fanfiction, and sometimes I feel like we’re just a bunch of fangirls who are bitter on his behalf. I mean… someone has to be.”** _“It clearly wasn’t Rapunzel.”_ **“I’m going to regret posting this aren’t I?”** _“Probably…. Unless people find us hilarious” *laughs*_ **“Yeah, because real people think we’re a riot (that’s sarcasm), so a bunch of strangers on the internet – what could possibly go wrong?!?”**

Varian rolled his eyes and returned to building the wall. There was no way Eugene was winning this fight against Rapunzel. He was just stalling so they’d have less time to work on their defenses while his own men attempted to put something together.

Varian smirked. It wouldn’t matter. The new captain of the guard and his men were going down. They were no match for Varian’s awesome powers of engineering. They should just consider themselves lucky that Rapunzel had banned him from using alchemy in this fight after what happened last time.

As Varian finished building the wall, and moved onto the next one, a strong gust of wind blew through his hair. Ruddiger chittered, before crawling down from his shoulders to press himself into Varian’s chest. _(“RACCOON!!!!! I love him!”) _Varian shivered where he knelt working on the wall. The storm seemed to be picking up, turning the light dusting of snow into a heavy shower.

Standing up, he glanced over to see Rapunzel and Eugene still arguing over whose team he should be on. Glancing towards the horizon, he frowned as he saw grey storm clouds rolling in. This wasn’t good. The storm could be here in a matter of hours, if not minutes, and once the blizzard picked up- Varian froze. A strong gust of wind shook him, almost knocking him over. _“Toothpick boy!”_ **“Don’t insult my son! RUDE!”** _“He should eat more ham sandwiches. That would solve a lot of his problems.”_ Catching himself on the fort’s wall, he found that he was shaking- and not just from the cold.

The blizzard was going to hit soon. Blizzards weren’t safe. They could be sudden and dangerous, and you could be trapped in one, and- Varian gasped. Trapped…. You could be trapped. _“I guess the cold bothered him anyway….”_ Just like his dad was in the last blizzard. Varian shook his head, pushing down his rising panic. His dad was fine. He was safe and sound in their home in Old Corona, probably building a nice warm fire in order to wait out the storm. His dad was fine. There was no amber, no black rocks, no danger. His dad was safe.

Shaking himself, Varian scooped Ruddiger up, cradling him in his arms. His dad was fine. He knew that for a fact…. Then why was a voice deep down whispering otherwise?

~~~Eugene~~~ _“YEEEESSSSSSSS! Your fanbase will now know that I am a raccoon and Eugene stan”_ **“I thought you were Pete!”**

Eugene continued his argument with Rapunzel even though he knew he was getting nowhere. Maybe if he stalled her long enough, her team wouldn’t be able to build up their defenses without her guidance.

Eugene flinched as he saw Old Lady Crowley winding up a hard throw for practice. The snowball hit the palace wall with a loud thud, bursting into thousands of pieces. _“The palace shattered….” *laughs* _**“The snowball shattered, not the palace. You know that.” *rolls eyes*** _“But what if it did?”_ **“Moving on….”** Now he wondered if he really should be expending so much energy arguing for Varian to be on his team. Maybe he should start with more urgent priorities- like perhaps the castle medic.

Turning back to Rapunzel, he decided to make one final argument, before he noticed Varian freeze where he was building the wall. The kid was shivering and had a funny look on his face. Eugene frowned. _(“Maybe it’s because Rapunzel forced him to be in the snow on his day off.”)_

The kid better not be sick. While yes, it would help greatly for the alchemist to go down before the fight even began- it would surely even the odds- Eugene didn’t want to kid to be stuck indoors for the next few weeks with the sniffles. Or worse- pneumonia.

Rapunzel stopped arguing with him once she saw his attention was no longer on her. _“Yeah, how dare he not pay attention to her.”_ **“This is turning into one long Rapunzel roast isn’t it?”** _“Director’s cut – Rapunzel’s roast edition.”_ Turning, she also faced the young alchemist, who was now clinging to Ruddiger.

“Are you alright, Varian?” Rapunzel asked, frowning at the look on his face.

Whatever Varian was thinking, he forced it deep down. Eugene watched as the kid plastered a fake smile on his face. _“Conceal, don’t feel…. Don’t let it show, Varian. But now they know!!!!”_ **“Not yet…tehehe….”**

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just worried about the storm clouds,” Varian gestured to the grey billows rolling in.

Rapunzel frowned, before turning to Eugene. Eugene studied the clouds for a moment, before sighing. “It looks like we might have to cancel the snowball fight with the townsfolk, Sunshine.”

Rapunzel sighed, looking dejected.

Eugene took her hands, smiling. “But we do have some time before the storm arrives. In fact, just enough time for the royal guard to destroy the castle staff in a snowball fight.”

Rapunzel smirked. “In your dreams….” **(“I just realized- her thing is dreams, and she just made a joke about dreams. I was unintentionally punny.” *laughs for a solid 15 minutes*)** Turning to face the rest of the staff in the fort, Rapunzel smiled. “Come on, Varian! Time to show those guards who’s boss!” _“She IS their boss.”_ **“Yeah, but she has to show them.”** _“Imagine that’s how the monarchy worked- whoever wins the snowball fight becomes the ruler. Maybe we need that for us with the presidency.”_ **“Are you kidding? They’re both so old, they’d break something.”** With that, she ran giggling over to the rest of the staff.

Eugene watched as Rapunzel ran off, frowning as Varian made no move to follow her.

“You sure you’re okay, Hair-stripe?”

Varian turned to Eugene, a weird look in his eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine.” There was that fake smile again. “Ready to go down, Fitzherbert?” The fake smile was replaced with a real smirk.

Eugene laughed. “In your dreams, Goggles!”

Eugene took one last look at the kid, before running to join his men in their “fort” – if one could call a couple of mounds of snow a fort. This was going to be a very short fight. On the bright side, once the fight was over, he could talk with Varian and see what was up. Those fake smiles might fool Rapunzel, but not the other half of Team Awesome. _“I mean anything could fool Rapunzel -jk don’t write that, we like having fans.”_ ***writes it anyways* “To be fair, she believed him in ‘The Alchemist Returns.’”** _“That’s fair. But Eugene totally just called his girlfriend stupid and unobservant.”_ **“No comment…. I write what I feel and sometimes it shows a little too much….”** _“Conceal don’t feel. But you let it show, and now they know….”_ **“They’ve known for a while how I feel about Rapunzel, if they’ve read my other fics.”** _“Can you tell I was listening to ‘Let it Go’ today on repeat after my exam?”_ **“Fun times…. It’s nice to know med school’s going well.”** _“Yeah….”_

At the sound of the cannon firing, the fight began. As predicted, it was a very short fight. Without proper defenses, Eugene and his men lasted a solid 2 minutes before it was over. Man, could Old Lady Crowley throw…. And her army of handmaidens – did they train for this?

Eugene shuddered as he brushed the snow off his shoulders, and followed the rest of the guards and staff back into the palace. They all filed into the throne room for hot cocoa and cider. Grabbing an extra mug of cocoa, Eugene turned looking for Varian. He had to hand it to the kid- he was a genius. While Rapunzel and her team still would have won without the fort, the alchemist’s impenetrable design made for a short fight (if you could even call it a fight and not just the royal guard being hammered with snowballs). He had to make the kid promise to teach him how he built it. That way, maybe next time his men will actually stand a chance.

Scanning the throne room, Eugene frowned as he didn’t see Varian. Maybe the kid had already headed back to his lab? Shaking his head, Eugene took the extra mug of cocoa with him as he made his way to the alchemist’s door. Gently knocking, he pushed open the door, only to find the lab empty. He checked Varian’s room, the kitchens, and outside just in case the kid was still out there before he started to get worried.

Returning to the throne room, Eugene approached Rapunzel who was high-fiving some of her handmaidens, congratulating them on their victory. “Oh hey, Eugene,” she smiled, waving him over. “We were just talking about that snowball you took to the face- way to go Faith!” Rapunzel smiled, high-fiving the handmaiden. _“I would break up with her at that point. It’s amazing how much abuse Eugene can take.”_

Eugene grimaced. “Remind me to remind you to add ‘no headshots’ to the list of rules.”

Rapunzel smirked, turning back to the girls.

“Hey Sunshine. Have you seen Varian?” Eugene asked.

Rapunzel frowned, turning back to face him. “No, I haven’t. I figured he grabbed his cocoa and headed back to his lab.”

Eugene shook his head. “No, I checked there. I also checked the kitchens and back outside. I can’t find him anywhere.”

Rapunzel’s frown deepened. “That’s odd. We have to find him.”

Eugene nodded, as they both headed towards the castle doors. Upon opening the doors, they were met with a giant gust of wind.

“Whoa!” Rapunzel cried, as she fell backwards, Eugene catching her in his arms. _(“Again, eating more ham sandwiches could solve a lot of problems.”)_

Eugene frowned, glancing out the window. “Looks like the blizzard is here. It’s too dangerous for you to go outside. You stay here and search the rest of the castle; I’ll grab Max and we’ll search the town. He can’t have gotten far.”

Rapunzel hesitated, “But Eugene-”

“I’ll be fine,” Eugene reassured, taking her hands. “One of us will find him. He’ll be okay.” _“Tender parent moment. I wonder if that’s what Frederic and Arianna were like when Rapunzel went missing.”_ **“Nah, Frederic is too much of a douchebag.”** _“I mean, Frederic never got on horseback to go look for her. He just made everyone else do it.” _**“Canon – horses make him queasy.”** _“Headcanon – that’s why he has such a big egg collection – because he’s such a chicken.”_ **“This is now shared headcanon.”**

Rapunzel nodded. “I hope so….” Turning to head back to the throne room to get people to aid in her search of the palace, Rapunzel sighed. “Be careful, Eugene.”

Taking her in his arms, and kissing her forehead, Eugene smiled. “I will. I promise.”

~~~Varian~~~

“In your dreams, Goggles!”

Varian watched as Eugene ran back to his men. Then he slowly began to make his way over to the rest of his team. Rapunzel was giving some rallying speech about how “this is the day we show those guards we’re the staff with the stuff, the maids throwing shade, the cooks that’ll leave them shook” and other such nonsense. Varian tuned her out as he once again focused on the storm. _“So did everyone else…. He really said, I’d rather watch a storm form than listen to Rapunzel try to trash talk.”_ **“I wish I could say I made this bad on purpose, but I literally spent 30 minutes coming up with this one section, so show some respect.”**

Those clouds were getting closer by the minute. Soon the blizzard would be upon them. Varian shivered, clutching Ruddiger tighter. The raccoon whined, and Varian looked down to see he was practically squeezing the life out of his friend.

“Sorry buddy,” he whispered, setting Ruddiger down. The raccoon nuzzled his leg in acceptance of his apology. Varian frowned, staring at the storm clouds. This wasn’t like last time…. He wasn’t running through a storm seeking help that he would be denied. His dad wasn’t in any danger. He wasn’t in any danger. He’s here in the palace courtyard with his friends, about to engage in a friendly snowball fight. Everything was okay. _“Or was it? Bum, bum, BUMMMMM…..”_ **“Spoiler alert! Shut up!”**

Distantly, he heard a cannon fire. The fight must be starting. Tearing his gaze from the storm on the horizon, Varian turned just in time to get a face-full of snow, collapsing to the ground. _(“’Everything was okay’” – post-snowball to the face – ‘everything is NOT okay.’”)_

Groaning as he sat up, he shivered as he brushed the snow from his face. Standing back up, he was almost knocked over again by a sudden gust of wind. _(“Uh-huh. That’s what you get for not eating your ham sandwiches.”)_ What was he doing out here in the storm again? **(“Literally me anytime I walk into another room….”)** His head hurt, and he felt disoriented. **“Me in grad school.”** _“Maybe it’s a metaphor. Maybe you’re Varian and grad school is the snowball. I guess that makes me Ruddiger. I’M A RACCOON!!!!”_ There had to be a reason why he was out here in the middle of a snowstorm.

Varian froze as it all came rushing back to him. The storm. His dad. The amber. His dad was in trouble! He needed to get back to Old Corona right away! The princess refused to help, but he had to get back! He had to do something! **“I should not be laughing right now…. This isn’t a funny part.”** _“I just imagine people are crying and getting all emotional and here we are cackling.”_ **“I blame you – I cried earlier when I wrote this. You need to quit cracking jokes.”** _“But it’s sooooo easy to.”_

Brushing the rest of the snow off, Varian took off at a sprint towards the palace gates. No one noticed him as they seemed to all be engaged in some sort of snowball fight. Varian rolled his eyes. Figures…. The princess has no time to help his father, but has time for foolish games. **“Literally me every time I see Rapunzel.”** _“She really said, forget Varian – let’s have a snowball fight. Princess Rapunzel – queen of avoiding trauma.”_

Racing out of the courtyard, Varian began to sprint through the town. He had to make it home. His dad needed him. He was in a race of time against the amber. He had to make it home before his dad was fully encased- before he lost him forever!

As the wind began to blow harder, Varian pressed forward. He had to make it home, before it was too late.

~~~Eugene~~~

“Alright, Max,” Eugene shouted as he saddled up the horse. “Varian’s gone missing, and it’s up to us to find him.”

Max neighed, and readied himself to sprint out of the stables and into the storm, when a flash of black leapt down in front of them. **“How do you spell leapt? I think I spelled it wrong, but spellcheck says I’m right….”** _“Either lept or leapt, I think.”_ **“Spellcheck says ‘leapt.’”** Max reared back in surprise.

“Ruddiger?!?” Eugene asked, staring in shock down at the little raccoon. “What are you- oh no!” Varian never went anywhere without Ruddiger, and if Ruddiger was here, and Varian wasn’t…. Eugene shuddered. They’d find him. They had to.

Bending down, Eugene scooped up the raccoon and placed him on the saddle with him. “Alright boys! Let’s go find our alchemist!” _“Awwwww, ‘our’ alchemist.”_

~~~Varian~~~

Varian had made it almost halfway through the town when the wind picked up again. Shivering, he wrapped his coat more tightly around himself, pulling up his hood. He made it a few more blocks before he heard the crunching of snow behind him. Turning, he saw one of the castle guards racing after him on his horse.

“There he is!” the guard called. “Varian! Stop!”

Varian trembled as the guard raced towards him. They were trying to stop him. The princess didn’t just refuse to help him, she was trying to prevent him from ever making it home. He knew too much about the black rocks. He was dangerous.

Taking off in a sprint, Varian raced through the town, weaving between buildings, trying to lose the guard. On the bright side, there only seemed to be one of them for now. Varian could only hope he would get away before more showed up.

Ducking around another corner, Varian ran right into someone, collapsing backwards on the ground. Shaking himself, he quickly got to his feet.

“Varian?!? Are you alright?” It was the blacksmith. Varian breathed a sigh of relief- not another guard. Just Xavier.

His relief was short-lived though as he heard the guard yell behind him, “Xavier! Grab him!”

Next thing Varian knew, the blacksmith had his arms wrapped around him in a crushing grip. Traitor! He had to let him go. He needed to save his dad! He struggled against the blacksmith, but he was no match for his strong hold. _“Well, duh. Toothpick boy who got knocked over by the wind thinks he can beat a blacksmith?” *laughs*_

The guard and his horse approached, a small black shadow leaping down from the saddle and rushing over to him. Ruddiger?!? But what was Ruddiger doing with the guard?!? They must have captured him! _“Varian really said worst case scenario.”_ **“He really did.”** _“Varian’s pov – ‘my raccoon is loyal and would NEVER betray me.’ Non-Varian pov – ‘he might, considering you left him IN THE SNOW!’” _He’d have to save Ruddiger too! The guard carefully dismounted and approached the boy and his captor. Varian trembled.

“Please! Let me go! You have to let me go! My dad- my dad’s in danger! I have to help him! PLEASE!” Varian cried, feeling his eyes well up with tears. _“Way to save the raccoon!”_ **“He has priorities.”** _“Apparently Ruddiger isn’t his top one….”_ **“He has daddy issues- of course Ruddiger’s not his top priority.”** _“I really hope your readers believe this is actually us two talking and not just you making up another person….” _**“This isn’t ‘Dear Evan Hansen.’ I have friends….”** _“They don’t know that.”_ **“Well it’s not like I can prove it so shut up.” *5 minutes later* “Great, now I’m having anxiety about my readers thinking I’m a crazy person who has conversations with myself. So thanks for that….”** _“You’re welcome.”_

The guard just stared at him in shock. “Varian?!? I don’t understand. What’s going on?!? Why would you run away like that?!?”

Varian felt his warm tears begin to run down his face. He didn’t care though. As long as the guard let him go.

“Please! Just let me go! You have to let me go! I promise I won’t tell anyone about the black rocks! You have to let me save my father! The amber- it’s… it’s….” Varian choked on the lump in his throat.

The guard and Xavier exchanged glances, before Xavier spoke for the first time. “I think it’d be best if we took this conversation inside.”

The guard nodded in agreement, moving to follow the blacksmith as he escorted his captive past the forge, and into the back room, shutting the door behind him. Placing Varian in a chair, but keeping his hands on his shoulders pinning him down, Xavier sighed.

Varian tried one last desperate plea. “Please. Let me go! My dad’s in danger, and it’s -it’s my fault! You have to let me save him. I’ll do anything!”

The guard and Xavier exchanged another glance before the guard sat down across from him. “Varian, we need to talk….”

~~~Eugene~~~

The wind has picked up, blowing gusts of snow and ice, making it difficult to see, but Eugene knows he can’t give up on the kid. He would never forgive himself if he left Varian out here all alone again, especially after what happened with the last blizzard. His friend needed him. Whatever was wrong, this time Eugene would be here to help fix it.

As Max galloped around another turn, Eugene spotted a figure in the snow up ahead. That had to be Varian. All the other villagers were safe in their homes.

“There he is!” he shouted. “Varian! Stop!” he cried out to the kid, but Varian took off, weaving through buildings and down alleys. Eugene cursed. Whatever was wrong, Varian wasn’t listening. He had to find a way to cut him off.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to, as he rounded the next corner to find Xavier staring down at the kid on the ground. “Xavier! Grab him!” he shouted as he raced towards the pair. Xavier thankfully didn’t question the order, and wrapped Varian tightly in his arms, preventing his escape.

As Eugene and Max approached, Ruddiger leapt down and ran towards his friend. The raccoon’s presence didn’t seem to help calm the boy down at all though, as he had begun to cry out.

“Please! Let me go! You have to let me go! My dad- my dad’s in danger! I have to help him! PLEASE!”

Eugene stared at the kid in shock as Varian pleaded with him. What the heck was Varian talking about? His dad was fine- safe in Old Corona. Frowning, Eugene stared at Varian in confusion.

“Varian?!? I don’t understand. What’s going on?!? Why would you run away like that?!?” Eugene watched in horror as Varian began to cry, begging with him to release him.

“Please! Just let me go! You have to let me go! I promise I won’t tell anyone about the black rocks! You have to let me save my father! The amber- it’s… it’s….”

The kid was gasping for breath. Between the running and the crying, it was obvious Varian had worn himself out. _“Me at the gym between all the running and the crying.”_ **“I have concerns….”** Eugene exchanged a look with Xavier. Whatever Varian thought was wrong, it obviously had something to do with his past and the amber. **“No shit….”** He needed to calm the kid down before he hurt himself, or did something stupid like run back out into that storm.

Xavier interrupted his thoughts as he spoke for the first time. “I think it’d be best if we took this conversation inside.” _“This is why Xavier is the wise one. I love Xavier – he’s everyone’s Grandpa.”_ **“We need more Xavier appreciation fics. This is one of them.”**

Eugene nodded, following the blacksmith inside to his inner room. Varian obviously wasn’t going to calm down anytime soon, and they needed to seek shelter from the wind and snow. Once inside, Xavier forced Varian to sit in a chair, releasing his arms, but keeping him in place with his hands on his shoulders. The old blacksmith sighed, looking to Eugene for help. Eugene frowned, trying to think of what to say that wouldn’t upset Varian even more, when the boy spoke again.

“Please. Let me go! My dad’s in danger, and it’s -it’s my fault! You have to let me save him. I’ll do anything!” _“Anything?”_ **“Shut up! This isn’t that sort of fic! Don’t be gross!”** _“You didn’t know what I was going to say! Maybe Eugene just wants to know the secret to making his fort.”_ ***laughs for a solid 10 minutes*** Eugene knew he would never forget the desperate look in Varian’s eyes. _“Better not ask about the fort then…. Now’s not the time….”_ It would haunt his nightmares for years to come. Looking to Xavier for advice, the blacksmith shrugged. Eugene sighed. Well, here goes nothing.

Taking a seat in the chair opposite Varian, _“He starts singing….”_ **“Stooooopppppp! This isn’t Rapunzel.”** _“This is his time to shine. She’s not there! It’s called an icebreaker.”_ **“Stoooooooppp!” *laughs*** _“He really said, ‘I never wanted to be a blacksmith. I want to be a singer.’”_ **“Wait are you talking about Xavier?”** _“Yeah…?”_ **“I’m talking about Eugene taking a seat. NOT Xavier.”** _“Ohhhhhh…. My bad…. Then he really said, ‘leave your gf at home so you get the spotlight.’” _**“This is a serious fic and I hate you.” *laughs* _“‘_** _This is a serious fic’” – insert mocking SpongeBob meme.” _**“How do you spell SpongeBob?”** _“WHAT?!?”_ **“Is it a capital B or not? My parents didn’t let me watch it growing up.”** _“Bob is his last name….”_ **“I googled it and it’s one word….”** _“Then what’s his last name? Oh, wait…. SquarePants!”_ **“Oh sure…, Word spellchecks ‘SquarePants’ but not ‘SpongeBob!’”** Eugene looked at the kid before speaking. “Varian, we need to talk….”

Varian’s reaction was immediate- he froze, hands clasping each other in his lap, eyes gazing studiously at the floor as tears ran down his cheeks. _“You gotta do it to ‘em.”_ **“I don’t get it.”** _“It’s a meme. I am now your meme consultant in addition to being your beta.” _**“Cuz memes are _real_ helpful with fanfiction…”** _“They could be….”_ **“That’s effort and I’m lazy- I mean… busy....”** Xavier released one of Varian’s shoulders to reach into his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief. He carefully placed it front of the boy’s face, waving it when Varian failed to notice it. Varian reached up and took it with trembling hands, dabbing at his eyes and the tear tracks on his cheeks before trying to hand it back to the blacksmith. **“That’s disgusting. He really said, ‘here’s my germs.’”** _“Sharing is caring in Corona. OMG! The fact that they’re in Corona- that’s comedy gold!”_ **“Too soon…. Too soon….”** _“Is it? Wait, yeah… it is….”_

Xavier smiled, and rested his hand back on his other shoulder, but this time giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Why don’t you hang onto that?” **“Translation: ‘that’s gross! I don’t want it.’ JK, Xavier is just nice.”**

Varian nodded, clutching it between his clasped hands as he returned to his original position. Eugene smiled at the blacksmith in thanks. He was glad Xavier was here. Whatever was wrong with Varian, he was glad he wasn’t having to face this alone.

“Varian…,” Eugene began softly. Not that it mattered because the kid automatically flinched at the sound of his name. “Varian, it’s okay. You’re okay. Your dad’s okay. You’re safe,” he stated gently.

Varian shook his head rapidly. “NO! He’s- he’s in danger! The amber-”

“Is a thing from your past,” Eugene interrupted. “There is no amber now. Your dad is fine.”

Varian gasped as his tears returned. “NO! You’re-you’re not listening. She didn’t listen either! You have to let me go! Captain, please!” _“She NEVER listens.”_ **“No comment….”**

Varian’s tear-filled eyes met his own, and Eugene gasped. Varian was looking at him, but not really seeing him. His eyes were full of fear and desperation. Eugene did not miss how the boy called him by his title. _“He starts to strip.”_ **“For the second time, this is NOT that kind of fic!”** _“I’m pretty sure Eugene wore underwear – it’s okay. And if all Varian sees is the uniform, then get rid of the uniform. Modern problems require modern solutions…. Cuz undressing is so modern…. No one before has ever done that. In the old days we kept our clothes ON!” _**“It’s a snowstorm! He’s not going to sit around in his undies.”** _“Xavier can build a fire. He’s a blacksmith. He knows how….”_ **“If the captain starting stripping in front of Varian, I’d think he’d have a heart attack. This is DEFINITELY NOT that sort of fic. I don’t know how to write that level of mature stuff, and I’d feel icky because Varian is my son.”** _“We’re going to have to make the director’s cut mature.” _**“STOOOOPPPPPP!”** He had to get Varian out of his own head, and back into the real world.

“Varian, whatever you think is happening- it’s not. This isn’t that blizzard. There is no amber anymore- Rapunzel dissolved it. Your father is safe- you got him out. You are safe. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m not here to drag you back to the castle. I’m here because I’m worried about you. I’m worried about my friend.”

Varian began to hiccup as his tears flowed more freely. “You’re-you’re not my friend. No one cares about me. _“Ruddiger is hurt by that statement. Poor Ruddiger….”_ E-especially not you! You-you’re with- with her. And she doesn’t care. She br-broke her promise, and y-you’re just here to drag me back!”

Eugene sighed. “Varian, I’m not here to drag you back to the castle. I’m here to make sure you’re safe. I know we hurt you in the past, but not this time. **“Who is this ‘we’? Rapunzel was the one who turned him away. Eugene just never went back for him.”** _“Why is it that Eugene always has to clean up Rapunzel’s messes? Is he her boyfriend or her babysitter?”_ **“People are going to be mad at us….”** _“I said what I said- mic drop.”_ **“I know and I love you for it! This is why we’re besties.”** _“Among a lot of other reasons too.”_ **“Nah, it’s just because you dislike Rapunzel as much as I do…. JK, calm down. I was joking.”** _“I was gonna say…. Also, random but it kills me that Cassandra calls Rapunzel ‘Raps.’ It makes me think of a tortilla. Like all of season 2, I died laughing every time she called her ‘Raps.’”_ **“I love how we have like no comments for an entire page, and then when we do comment, it is an entire page.”** _“Well it is the director’s long cut, not the shortcut.”_ This time, I’m personally going to see to it that you get home safely once the blizzard lets up, okay? If that’s what you want…. I’ll personally escort you straight home to your father so you can see for yourself that he’s okay once the storm lets up. Okay?”

Varian didn’t reply, staring at the floor again.

Eugene frowned. “I’ll take you home after the storm clears, but you have to agree to stay here until then. Do we have a deal, Hair-stripe?”

Varian lifted his eyes to glare at Eugene, but gave no reply.

Eugene sighed. “Varian, please talk to me. I want to help. I promise.” Eugene realized his mistake as soon as his said the word. _“TRIGGEREEEEDDDDDD!!!!”_ **“I mean, he was already triggered. Can you re-trigger a trigger?”**

Varian flinched, but continued to glare at him. “I have nothing to say to you until you let me free my father, Captain,” he growled. The effect was ruined though by the hiccups that followed and the tears still streaming down his face.

Eugene sighed once again, turning to Xavier for advice. The blacksmith shook his head. _“Xavier really said, ‘don’t look at me.’” _Best to let it go then. Eugene frowned. This was going to be a long night….

~~~Varian~~~

“Varian, we need to talk….” **“‘Are you breaking up with me?’ That’s what I think of every time I hear this line.”** _“It’s not that kind of fic…. My how the turn tables.”_

Varian clasped his hands, avoiding eye contact with the captain of the guard. From what he remembered, that only made him angry, and Varian needed him release him. He felt warm tears make their way down his cheeks, but he refused to wipe them away. Maybe if the captain saw his desperation, he would take pity on him and let him go. _“That’s the saddest strategy. That’s like playing possum. What’s next, Varian? Playing dead until Eugene leaves? Varian says, ‘For personal reasons I have decided to pass away.’ If people don’t meme this in the comments then I will.”_ **“Don’t tell my readers what to do. Free choice** **😉 tehehehehe….”**

His view of the floor was interrupted by Xavier waving a small handkerchief in his face, obviously urging him to take it. Varian complied, not wanting to anger the captain by refusing the blacksmith’s kindness. He tried to keep his hands from shaking as he reached up the grasp it, but found that he couldn’t. Maybe that would help his case though, given how pathetic he must look.

Taking the handkerchief in his hand, he dabbed at his face, before attempting to hand it back to the blacksmith, who refused it, instead giving him what Varian assumed must have meant to be a reassuring squeeze of his shoulder. It wasn’t anywhere near reassuring.

“Why don’t you hang onto that?” _“Maybe I will….”_

Varian nodded, grasping the handkerchief tightly between his hands, once again hanging his head.

“Varian…,” the captain began, his voice more gentle than usual. Must be trying to lull him into a false sense of security. Well, Varian wasn’t falling for that again…. _“Again?!? What? Has the captain tried this before?”_ **“That’s what I was trying to imply?”** _“Ohhhhh…, so it IS that kind of fic….”_ **“Stop it! You know what I meant. The captain is a nice, I mean semi-nice man who definitely had to interrogate Varian at one point probably, and was just trying to be nice about it.”** “Varian, it’s okay. You’re okay. Your dad’s okay. You’re safe,” the captain stated.

What a load of BS! Varian shook his head. “NO! He’s- he’s in danger! The amber-”

“Is a thing from your past,” the captain interrupted. “There is no amber now. Your dad is fine.”

Varian felt tears well up in his eyes again. The captain wasn’t listening. He wasn’t going to let him go. His dad was in danger, and he was stuck here being interrogated because the captain hated him because he was with _her_. She didn’t want him to create any more trouble for her. She didn’t want him to force her to keep her promise! “NO! You’re-you’re not listening. She didn’t listen either! You have to let me go! Captain, please!”

The captain began to speak again, spilling lies from his lips. “Varian, whatever you think is happening- it’s not. This isn’t that blizzard. There is no amber anymore- Rapunzel dissolved it. Your father is safe- you got him out. You are safe. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m not here to drag you back to the castle. I’m here because I’m worried about you. I’m worried about my friend.”

Varian could feel himself becoming more and more distressed. No one was listening. Why wouldn’t anyone listen? Not even Xavier was helping him! _“Varian, Xavier has better things to do than listen to your trauma.” _**“Shut up! They’re in a snowstorm- they’ve got nothing but time.”** _“Yeah, and you know how many swords Xavier could make in that time?”_ **“You want him to make sharp weapons around the traumatized child?”** _“I really said, ‘here traumatized child- have a pointy stick.’ I thought he was playing pathetic not crazy. He would probably think they are trying to execute him. Poor Varian, we put him through so much.”_ **“‘We’? Your comment, your idea.”** _“Yeah, I guess I got some angst in me too.”_ ***sings “I’ve got the angst in me” to the tune of “I’ve got the magic in me”*** Varian began to hiccup as his tears flowed more freely. Glaring at the captain, he shouted at him. “You’re-you’re not my friend. No one cares about me. _“Ruddiger is still offended….”_ E-especially not you! You-you’re with- with her. And she doesn’t care. She br-broke her promise, and y-you’re just here to drag me back!”

The captain sighed as if hurt by Varian’s outburst. Well, it was only fair Varian finally got to hurt him back. After everything he did! After everything they all did! _“Literally what did Eugene do?”_ **“Reminder, Varian doesn’t see Eugene- he only sees the captain. Plus Eugene did attack his house so there’s that….”** _“Well he was out here terrorizing people’s lives….”_ **“I didn’t think they knew where he lived since they never bothered to check on him.”** _“Burn! Roast!”_

“Varian, I’m not here to drag you back to the castle. I’m here to make sure you’re safe. I know we hurt you in the past, but not this time. This time, I’m personally going to see to it that you get home safely once the blizzard lets up, okay? If that’s what you want…. I’ll personally escort you straight home to your father so you can see for yourself that he’s okay once the storm lets up. Okay?”

Varian refused to reply. He wasn’t going to agree to any more of their deals. They never ended well for him. The last time they said they’d help him, he ended up in a cell with Andrew who was a literal terrorist. _*laughs*_ **“Don’t laugh- it’s not funny.”** _“In my head it’s a lot funnier….”_ No, he wouldn’t fall for their tricks again. **“But what about their treats?”** _“She really said, ‘hello Halloween!’” _**“Do you think cultural differences will make this fic difficult to understand?”** _“Everyone knows what Halloween is….”_ **“I’m more worried about the meme references….”**

The captain frowned. Varian knew he’d made him angry, but he didn’t care anymore. If he wasn’t going to help him free his father, then the captain could do whatever he wants, as long as he stays out of his way. _“Oh that’s a yikes from me.”_

The captain spoke again. “I’ll take you home after the storm clears, but you have to agree to stay here until then. Do we have a deal, Hair-stripe?”

Something about the nickname bothered Varian. The captain had never bothered with nicknames before. And the timeline…, why did Varian remember prison? Wasn’t that something that happened after the amber? But no! His dad was in trouble! He was sure of it! The nickname was just a ploy by the captain to get Varian to lower his guard. _“The captain lowers his guard….” *Starts laughing_ * **“Stop making puns- this is serious.”**

Well, it wouldn’t work. Varian didn’t need him. _“Varian really said I’m a strong independent teenager who don’t need no captain. I just need my daddy.” _He just needed to find a way to escape. **“Varian really said this is an escape room.”** _“You’re trapped in a room with a captain, a raccoon and a blacksmith. You have 30 minutes to find 3 clues and escape.”_ **“Ruddiger’s not in there yet.”** _“They left him outside AGAIN?!? RUDE! I’m calling PETA! I’m calling Sarah McLachlan!”_ **“Stop!”**

The captain sighed yet again. “Varian, please talk to me. I want to help. I promise.” _“Stop promising things! That’s the root of all your problems.”_ **“Rapunzel: ‘I promise that I’ll keep my promise this time. Not like last time when I promised I would keep my promise and then I didn’t keep my promise of my promise. But this time I promise. Okay, Varian?’ *Varian cries*”** _“Varian spontaneously combusts.”_ ***Makes the mistake of drinking water and does an actual spit-take***

Varian flinched at the word choice. The captain cringed as he stared at him- he must know it’s his trigger word. Yet another ploy by the royals to get under his skin. Varian continued to glare at the captain. Mustering up what little strength he had left after the run through the village, and the subsequent crying as he was captured, _*laughs*_ **“QUIT LAUGHING! This is serious.” *immediately starts laughing* “I just thought of the Wonder Pets theme song. ‘This is sewious. We have to have him! Let’s save the Varian! Let’s save the Varian! Let’s save the Varian! WHHHEEEEEE!!!!!”** _*drinks soda but then starts laughing and almost does a spit-take*_ **“That’s payback!”** Varian spoke with all the defiance he could manage. “I have nothing to say to you until you let me free my father, Captain,” he growled. He immediately hiccupped afterwards which probably ruined the effect, but he thinks he got his point across.

The captain sighed, looking to Xavier for help. Varian wishes he could see Xavier’s face- he needs to know whose side the blacksmith is on. **“Literally me with everyone wearing masks.”** _“Why does he keep trying to rope Xavier into this? They’re already using his house. Leave him alone!”_ Frowning, he resisted the urge to groan. Probably the captain’s- the blacksmith has always been extremely loyal to the royals. Oh well…. Varian would escape on his own. It was only a matter of time.

~~~Eugene~~~

After his very unproductive conversation with Varian, Eugene left the inner room to check on Max and Ruddiger, where he’d left them in the forge next to the fire. _“He found 2 popsicles. A horse-shaped popsicle and a raccoon-shaped popsicle, with ‘In the arms of an angel’ playing in the background and sirens in the distance. Except back then, they didn’t have sirens, so it’s just Stan and Pete going ‘whee-whoo, whee-whoo.’” _**“Spellcheck is trying to autocorrect ‘whee-whoo’ to ‘whoo-hoo.’”** _ “Read the room, spellcheck. This is a ‘whee-whoo’ situation, not a ‘whoo-hoo.’”_

Upon seeing Eugene, Max neighed, asking if everything was alright. Eugene shook his head. Varian was stuck in the past, and Eugene couldn’t figure out how to bring him back to the present. _“Back to the future?” _He wasn’t even sure he could, seeing as when Varian looked at him, all he saw was the captain of the guard, not Eugene Fitzherbert. _“Again, easy problem that can be fixed by stripping.”_ **“For the gazillionth time- it’s NOT that kind of fic!!!!”** Not the former thief Flynn Rider he used to admire, believing him to be the book character, not Eugene- the other half of the Team Awesome. When Varian looked at him now, all he saw was his title- Captain, and Eugene found he had never hated that title more.

Giving both Max and Ruddiger an apple, he gently scooped up the raccoon. “Looks like you’re up, buddy.” **“Honestly, I don’t know why he didn’t just start with the raccoon. I mean, I do- because I wrote that on purpose to make it angstier, but still….”** _“Just throw an animal at the boy. He’ll be okay. It’s the equivalent of rubbing dirt on it or walking it off.”_

Ruddiger nodded. Time to help save Varian. **“Again….”** _“Smart little raccoon baby….”_

~~~Varian~~~

After the captain left to go who knows where, Varian saw his opportunity and seized it. **“He ‘seized the day’ – Newsies reference because of Jeremy Jordan.”** He slammed his head back as hard as he could against the blacksmith’s torso behind him, knocking the breath out of him, and causing Xavier to let go of his shoulders in surprise. _“Xavier invites these people into his home, and in exchange gets ASSAULTED!”_ **“Yup! Pretty much.”** Upon his release, he scrambled in a mad dash for the door, only to run right into the captain and his raccoon. _“Well, duh! Where’d he think Eugene went?”_

“Whoa!” the captain called, as he grabbed him, pinning his arms to his sides.

“Let me go!” Varian shrieked, as he struggled against the captain’s hold on him. It was useless. The captain wasn’t budging.

The captain escorted him back to his chair, but not before barring the door to the outside after them. The captain was surprisingly gentle as he urged Varian to sit in the chair once again. Very different from his usual forceful shove to get him to sit down.

Varian squirmed in his hold, trying to break free, but eventually was gently pushed down into the chair, and held there by the captain’s own grip on his shoulders.

“Are you alright, Xavier?” the captain asked, glancing behind them at the blacksmith.

The blacksmith groaned, but nodded. “Yes, he just caught me by surprise.” _“Yeah, no one ever expects to be assaulted in their own home. It’s not like he prepared for this situation.”_

The captain nodded before turning back to face Varian. “What were you thinking?!?” he asked. **“Me when I agreed to let us write this version of the fic.”** _“Me- no thoughts- head empty.”_

Varian glared at him. As if he didn’t know! **“Varian is coming off kind of sounding like an angry girlfriend.”** _“Well they did have to talk….”_ “I’m going to save my dad!”

The captain sighed. “Varian, we’ve been over this. The storm is too dangerous right now.”

“I got here just fine, didn’t I?!?” Varian spat.

The captain frowned. “Varian, I’m going to take you to your dad. AFTER the storm ends. But until then, I’m sure both Xavier and I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to escape. We only want to help you.”

“As if…,” Varian growled. “No one wants to help me.”

The captain smirked. “Are you sure about that? Because I know a certain raccoon that would disagree.” _“At this point Ruddiger is saying, ‘stab me again in the heart. I can take it.’ Poor raccoon. He’s the most abused character next to Xavier.”_

With that, the captain stepped aside to reveal Ruddiger scampering towards him. His raccoon friend quickly climbed up into his lap, nuzzling his chest.

Varian scoffed. Bribery! That was their next play?!? _“The rarest form of currency- raccoons.”_ While he was grateful to have Ruddiger back, he knew he couldn’t show it. He had to remain strong. He had to show he couldn’t be bought. He couldn’t afford to be a sell-out. Not for dad’s sake!

The captain seemed amused as Varian ignored Ruddiger nuzzling his chest. Varian glared. He couldn’t afford to show weakness. That plan had already failed. Now if only he could get Ruddiger on the same page….

~~~Eugene~~~

Eugene returns to the inner room only to be greeted by a chest-full of angsty teenager. **“Is there any other form of teenager?”** He’s quick to drop Ruddiger _“HE DROPPED HIM! Once again- calling PETA!”_ and instead latch onto Varian’s arms, pinning them at his sides. He gently maneuvers Varian back to his chair, ignoring his struggling, before turning to check on Xavier.

Thankfully, the old blacksmith seems relatively unharmed. _“Relatively being the key word. Nothing can ever stop the emotional scars.”_ Turning to Varian, he frowns. “What were you thinking?!?” _“Varian- ‘I wasn’t.’” _**“Does he really ever? Like I love him, but for a teen genius, sometimes he has zero brain cells.”** _“He should tell Ruddiger to give them back.”_

The kid glares at him in response, before shouting, “I’m going to save my dad!”

Sighing, Eugene reminded himself to be patient. Varian obviously had no idea what’s going on. “Varian, we’ve been over this. The storm is too dangerous right now.”

“I got here just fine, didn’t I?!?” the kid spat.

Eugene frowned. Yes, he knows. He did not need to be reminded of the fact that Varian ran through a storm just like this one alone a few years ago, all because they refused to help him at the time. He decided to try reasoning with Varian again. “Varian, I’m going to take you to your dad. AFTER the storm ends. But until then, I’m sure both Xavier and I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to escape. We only want to help you.”

“As if…,” Varian growled. “No one wants to help me.”

Eugene couldn’t help but smirk, stepping aside to reveal his secret weapon. “Are you sure about that? Because I know a certain raccoon that would disagree.”

Eugene smiled as Ruddiger raced up and into Varian’s lap, nuzzling his chest. Then he was forced to hold back laughter as the boy obviously was trying to pointedly ignore his raccoon friend’s affection. Which Ruddiger seemed completely oblivious to Varian’s frustration. _“I love this raccoon. I want a raccoon.”_

Turning to Xavier, he found the blacksmith smiling at him. Yeah, he really should have led with the raccoon…. **“No shit….”** Satisfied that Varian wouldn’t be moving anytime soon, given his preoccupation with his raccoon situation, Eugene sat in his own chair, smiling at Varian’s predicament. The boy was obviously torn between embracing his friend, and remaining stoically angry. Eugene was curious to see which emotion would win out.

~~~Xavier~~~  
  


Xavier left to go get refreshments and blankets, Eugene staying to keep guard over their charge. When he returned a few minutes later, the staring contest between captain and alchemist was still ongoing. Thankfully, it seemed that though Varian was determined to keep up his tough charade, he had given up ignoring Ruddiger and was now stroking his fur. _“Angrily strokes his fur- with emotion.”_ Xavier smiled as he set the mugs of hot cocoa down, along with the plate of cookies, before handing Eugene a blanket which he graciously accepted. Even with the fire going, the room was still a little drafty.

Xavier turned to offer a blanket to Varian, but the teenage alchemist just glared at him. Sighing, Xavier placed the extra blankets on the table next to the cocoa and cookies. Varian would take one when he was ready. The blacksmith turned to the table, offering both Eugene and Varian refreshments. Once again Eugene accepted with a smile, while Varian glared.

Xavier frowned. “Varian, are you sure you wouldn’t like any hot cocoa? I know it’s your favorite!” **“In hindsight, this line is kind of creepy.”**

The alchemist glared at Xavier. “You don’t know anything about me!” **“Classic teenage angst.”** _“Bro, you don’t know me man! You don’t know where I’ve been! You don’t know where I’ve come from!”_

Xavier sighed. If only the boy knew how wrong he was. Quirin was one of Xavier’s oldest and dearest friends. Quirin used to bring the boy by his shop every time he came into town, back when Varian didn’t even reach his own knees. He’d watched the boy grow up into a curious teenager with a knack for alchemy. And then he’d watched as the boy, in his grief over his father, had gone on a rampage, vowing revenge. Then he’d seen firsthand the alchemist’s revenge through the Saporian takeover.

Unlike many of the other townsfolk, Xavier saw past Varian’s rage and pain, to the hurt, scared boy within. He regretted not being able to help him in the past, but was grateful for the opportunity to help him now.

As Varian lashed out, Xavier couldn’t help a small, sad smile. “But don’t I? After all, I compete with your father every year, trying to buy some hot cocoa, before he purchases it all for your family’s stash.” **“Headcanon- Quirin has a hot cocoa stash because that’s the only way he knows how to connect with his son.”** _“Well, duh….”_

Varian froze at the mention of his father, before glancing down at where his fingers stroked through Ruddiger’s fur. “I have to help him,” he whispered.

“I know,” Xavier replied. “I’ll make sure you get to him, but the captain is right. The storm is too dangerous right now. We will all go together once it passes. I swear it. Can you trust me, Varian?”

Varian gazed up at the blacksmith, studying him closely, before sadly shaking his head. “I can’t,” he whispered.

Xavier nodded solemnly. “I understand. I only hope I can change your mind in the future.”

~~~Eugene~~~

Eugene’s heart clenched at the kid’s words. “I can’t.” Varian had every right not to trust them. They’d abandoned him before, and he had no reason to think they wouldn’t again. Eugene gripped his mug of cocoa even tighter, vowing right then and there to prove to Varian that he could trust them. To prove to him that he was wrong.

~~~Varian~~~

Varian was exhausted. Between the running, the crying, and the tough guy act, he could feel his energy depleting. He refused the blankets and the cocoa and the cookies, because he knew any form of comfort and he would be out like a light. He had to stay strong. For dad.

When Xavier announced he was going to turn in for the night, the captain simply nodded. The blacksmith made the captain promise to wake him if he needed anything, before turning to Varian and telling him he was welcome to sleep on an extra cot he kept on case of company.

Varian shook his head, refusing to make eye contact, and instead gazing at the fire. The blacksmith frowned, but said nothing as he headed off to bed. Which left Varian alone with the captain. Well, the captain and Ruddiger.

Speaking of Ruddiger, as another draft blew through the room, the raccoon hopped down from Varian’s lap, scooting over to be closer to the fire. Without the warmth from his friend, Varian suddenly felt how cold it was in the room. He was beginning to regret not taking one of Xavier’s blankets. Well, he wasn’t about to show weakness now….

That being said, he missed Ruddiger’s company, and his warmth. Maybe he could move closer to the fire as well. Varian stood up slowly, carefully eyeing the captain for any sudden movements. While the captain followed him with his eyes as he stood and made his way closer to the fire, he said nothing.

Varian crouched down next to the fire, before settling down next to his friend. Ruddiger crawled into his lap where he promptly fell asleep. Traitor…. Varian gazed at the fire, feeling the warmth in his limbs. After about ten minutes, he realized this was a mistake. **“Also me writing this fic.”** The warmth was getting to him- making him sleepy. Already his eyelids were drooping, and his head began to sag forward.

NO! He was not going to give up now. No weakness, Varian. You can do this. For dad! Varian was so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he failed to notice that the captain had moved from his post until he was wrapping a blanket around his shoulders.

Varian froze. He waited for the blanket to be folded into some sort of restraint, or maybe some form of pain as punishment for moving without permission. The captain hadn’t hurt him so far, but maybe with Xavier gone, his luck had run out.

Instead, Varian was surprised when, after the blanket was gently draped over his shoulders, the captain once again stood and returned to his chair. Varian watched him from the corner of his eye, waiting for him to show his true colors, but the captain simply sat back in his seat, and placed his own blanket back in his lap. _“Tender moment….”_

Varian hesitated, before turning fully to face the captain. The captain continued to say nothing, but gave him a small smile upon noticing Varian staring at him. Varian trembled. Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t how things were. The captain hated him, and had always been very obvious about it, with his harsh shoves, and glares, and cruel words. This man though, he hadn’t done any of those things. He was soft smiles, and gentle pushes, and warm blankets gently draped around his shoulders. This man was an enigma to Varian. A foreign puzzle he just couldn’t figure out.

Before he could stop himself, Varian found him voicing the question that was echoing through his mind. “Why?”

The captain sighs, gazing past Varian into the fire. “Because I’m sorry. I know we hurt you in the past, and you’re obviously still hurting even if we’ve moved on.” The captain turned his gaze back to Varian. “I want to make things right. I want to help you. I really do. We’re a team. You’re my little brother, and I know I haven’t always been the best at showing it, but I do care about you, Varian. And I’m sorry I ever made you feel otherwise.”

Varian stared at the captain in shock. That was not the answer he was expecting at all. The captain never apologized. EVER. He said as much.

The captain chuckled darkly. “Yeah, I guess Sunshine **“Can we talk for a second about how I don’t know what to have Eugene call Rapunzel anymore? Like it’s post-series-finale, so she’s not blonde anymore, so ‘Blondie’ feels weird, but then I feel like I overuse ‘Sunshine.’”** _“Is it rude if we call her brownie since her hair’s brown now?”_ **“I’ll take that under advisement.”** _“Ouch.”_ and I never officially apologized for abandoning you last time. I’m sorry it took me so long to apologize. You deserve better, Goggles.”

The captain gave him a sad smile. “And I’m sorry that now all you see when you look at me is the captain’s uniform, but I swear I’m still me. Former thief, dashing rogue, best-looking man in the castle, Rapunzel’s handsome boyfriend _“As opposed to her ugly boyfriend?”_ **“Shut up!”** _“Is her ugly boyfriend Shorty?” _**“Literally I hate you so much sometimes.”,** the second half of team awesome, and your friend Eugene Fitzherbert.”

Varian stared at him in shock as it all came rushing back to him. The storm, Rapunzel’s refusal to help, the amber, his dad. But then other memories came back- the battle of Old Corona, his imprisonment, Rapunzel’s return, the fight with the Saporians, Rapunzel keeping her promise, his dad being freed- Varian gasped.

Eugene jumped up from where he was sitting, running over to him as he struggled to breathe. **“Is it bad if I imagined Eugene tripping on his blanket and falling on his face, but then I didn’t write that? Because that’s definitely something I would do as a clumsy person.”** _“I’m glad he didn’t.”_ **“Me too.”**

“Whoa, easy there, Hair-stripe. Breathe with me. In… and out….” Eugene gently placed a hand on his shoulder as he gasped for breath.

After a few long minutes, Varian’s breathing finally returned to normal. He turned to glance at Eugene who hesitantly pulled his hand away.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to grab you,” he apologized as he slowly made to return to his seat.

Varian lunged at him, wrapping his arms around him.

“Whoa, easy there, kid,” Eugene laughed, but gently returned the hug.

Varian felt tears return to his eyes as he buried his face in Eugene’s chest. “Eugene! My-my dad…. I-”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Eugene hugged him tighter. “Your dad’s okay.”

Varian nodded into his chest. “I-I know. I forgot, but now I remember, and I-I was so scared, Eugene, and I’m so sorry. I panicked and I forgot and I-”

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Eugene whispered. “You’re okay. It’s good to have you back, kid.”

Varian smiled into Eugene’s chest. “Thank you for not giving up on me. For coming to find me. For not leaving me alone.”

Eugene smiled. “Never again, kid. You’re stuck with ole Eugene here.”

Varian pulled back from the hug, gazing up at his friend. “Thanks Eugene.”

Eugene ruffled his hair. “You’re welcome, Goggles.”

~~~Xavier~~~

_“ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.”_ **“What?”** _“Shhhhhhh…. He’s sleeping_.” **“Oh my goodness…. Shut up! It’s a time jump. He’s awake now.”** _“He missed the whole reconciliation. He might think it’s a dream. He just has a weird pain in his stomach? Chest? Where did Varian headbutt him?”_ **“I don’t know…. I just said his torso. I don’t know how tall Varian is compared to Xavier. I didn’t measure them….”** _“The R &D team is really slacking here….”_ **“I was too lazy to google. Sue me.”** _“Xavier could just wake up with a weird stomach pain and think to himself, ‘this is what I get for buying off-brand hot cocoa.’”_ **“I literally have nothing to say to that. I’m not even going to justify that with a response.”** _“Quirin took all the good hot cocoa- this is all he has left.”_ **“Moving on….”** _“You already said you were going to rate this M for mature.”_ **“No! I said like 10 times I wanna keep it teen since the original is teen.”** _“Oooooo your first teen fic! Exciting!”_ **“What are you talking about? Almost all my fics are teen, except ‘When I return….’ Because I don’t know how people feel about Varian’s trauma.”** _“Oh right…. I forgot trauma is not rated E for everyone.”_ **“Can I read Xavier’s part now?”** _“Okay.”_

Xavier finds both boys and racoon sound asleep by the fireplace the next morning. The blizzard has passed, but neither boy seems to have noticed. Chuckling, he tucks the blankets tighter around them all before heading to the kitchen to make breakfast. He’s glad that it seems Varian has finally decided to trust them after all.

~~~Varian~~~

Varian finds himself on the road with Eugene, Ruddiger, and Xavier the next morning, headed towards his dad’s house. Max had been sent back to the castle to inform Rapunzel that they were alright. Varian had argued that the others didn’t need to come but Eugene had simply scoffed.

“I made you a deal, and I intend to make good on it. I am hereby your personal escort.” **“So basically, he gets a police escort.”** _“They show up at Quirin’s house, and he’s like ‘what did you do now?’”_ **“This is post-finale Varian. He doesn’t get in trouble… most of the time…. Probably…. And when he does Eugene is right there with him.”**

When Varian turned to argue with Xavier, the blacksmith had smiled and said something about not wanting to break his trust. Varian had responded with a sincere thanks and a sheepish apology for injuring him in his escape attempt. The old blacksmith had just laughed, and commented on how “that’s why we leave the guarding to the youngsters, right captain?” _“Are we sure we want to call Eugene a youngster?” _**“He’s 26. We’re 22.”** _“Yeah, I forgot we’re old. I have concerns….”_ **“Me too.”**

A few hours later, and they had arrived in Old Corona. Unable to wait any longer, Varian took off in a run towards his dad’s house. **“I mean, I know I’m the one who wrote this, but he’s doing a lot of physical activity for someone with a head injury.”** _“And as someone who didn’t drink his cocoa or eat the cookies.”_ He burst through the front door to find his dad sitting by the fireplace.

“DAD!” he cried as he raced forward to embrace his dad in a hug. “You’re okay!”

His dad stared at him in shock, but hugged him back. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” He looked at his son in confusion. **“@Quirin, don’t act like you don’t know why he’s flipping out, Mr. my lies got me trapped in amber for year.”**

Varian grimaced as he released his dad from the hug. “Well there was the blizzard, and I know it’s stupid, but I was worried because of what happened last time, and now I feel really dumb, because of course you’re fine, and I made us come all this way, and-”

Quirin smiled, pulling his son back into another hug. “It’s okay, son. I’m okay.”

“I know,” Varian whispered as he clung to his dad’s vest.

Just then, Ruddiger, Eugene, and Xavier appeared in the doorway to the house. Quirin looked up at them in confusion.

“Varian?” he asked, nodding towards their 2 guests and his son’s raccoon.

Varian sighed. “It’s a long story, but I kind of ran out into the blizzard.” **“A glimpse into Quirin’s mind: ‘YOU DID WHAT NOW?!?!’ *loses shit*”** At his dad’s shocked and concerned look **“Conceal don’t feel Quirin.”** _“Yeah, what did your Brotherhood training teach you….”_ , Varian continued. “But-but don’t worry! Eugene and Xavier stopped me, but I kind of fought them on it since I was worried about you, so then they made a deal with me that they’d escort me here after the storm, and so here we are...,” Varian finished sheepishly. **“That’s fine…. Don’t tell your dad about the assault.”** _“I think Quirin would be proud of him. Varian really said self-defense.”_ **“I don’t think Quirin would appreciate Varian assaulted one of his closest friends.”** _“Yeah…. Wasn’t Frederic also one of Quirin’s closest friends? I think some friends can be assaulted.”_ **“You’re horrible, but also not wrong. And was Frederic really his friend?”** _“That’s how he greeted him in the throne room. He was like, ‘Oh Quirin, my dearest and oldest friend. What can I do for you?’ and Quirin was like, ‘Hello. I need more land. Nothing about pointy rocks though. No pointy rocks here.’ And Frederic was like, ‘Okay. More land. No rocks. Yay us! Sounds Gucci!’ Bam! Modern interpretation of the throne room scene! Quirin really said, ‘we yeeted all our crops!’” _**“I don’t think ‘yeeted’ is used correctly there.”** _“I don’t think I used it right either.”_ **“I still wouldn’t consider Frederic one of Quirin’s friends since he never listens to him, and kind of said, ‘let him suffer, not my problem.’”** _“Well Frederic needs friends. Otherwise all he has is his eggs.”_ **“He has Ariana. She’s required to love him by law.”** _“But she’s his wife. Imagine getting friend-zoned by your wife. That can’t happen.” _**“Isn’t that basically what happened in ‘The King and Queen of Hearts’ episode?”** _“Yeah….”_

Quirin stared at his son in shock, before turning to his son’s protectors, smiling at them. “Thank you for looking after my son.”

Xavier and Eugene nodded. “It was no problem, sir,” Eugene stated. _“It was kind of a problem….”_ “Anything for Team Awesome!”

Varian blushed at his words. Quirin smiled standing up, and placing his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Why don’t you both come inside? I’ll make us all some hot cocoa.” _“Yes! They finally get the hot cocoa. And Xavier finally gets some on-brand cocoa! There is justice in this world. And all he had to do was get minorly assaulted by a teenager in order to get the good cocoa.”_ **“There are no words….”**

~~~Eugene~~~

The two men came in and sat at the kitchen table, both smiling as they watched Varian trail closely behind his father as he made his way into the kitchen. They shared a knowing glance.

As Eugene watched Varian helped his father with the mugs, he felt a warmth in his chest. The kid would be okay. Eugene would make sure no one would ever hurt him again. _“But what if it’s his girlfriend that hurts Varian again?”_ **“Well I would hope that Rapunzel would have learned her lesson after last time….”** _“She doesn’t think things through with her head, she just follows her heart and runs with it.”_ **“Well maybe this time her heart can run with Varian.”** _“But if it doesn’t, will Eugene fight his girlfriend?”_ **“I would hope so…, but I don’t know. I feel like he would just fix the mess and not tell her, but I don’t know.”** And if he had to stop Varian from running into a thousand blizzards to prove to him that he could trust him, then that’s what he would do. Because he meant it when he said his little brother deserved better. Watching him hover near his father, as if leaving his side would cause him to vanish forever, Eugene promised himself the he would make sure Varian never felt alone again.

_“In the future, Varian might want to consider building a telephone. ‘It’s a device, dad, to where I can check on you without running halfway across the kingdom in the middle of a blizzard.’”_ **“‘Eugene said it was necessary. He really hates snow. And he said one more time, and he’s handcuffing me to him during the next storm.’”**

**“What if- and stay with me now- there was a fic where Quirin is living at the castle with Varian, and he’s like, ‘Hey son! I’m headed to Old Corona to get some things. I’ll be back.’ And Varian’s like, ‘ok dad. Sounds good.’ And then Quirin heads outside, sees storm clouds, and is like ‘nah, I’ll stay,’ but forgets to tell Varian he didn’t go, and then the storm hits, and Varian’s like, ‘oh shit! My dad!’ and he runs out into the storm and Eugene being the awesome big bro he is races after him”** _“Follow that scientist!”_ **“and then they get to Old Corona and Quirin’s not there and Varian’s like ‘oh shit! He’s dead! He’s dead’”** _“‘I am an orphan!’”_ **And then back at the castle, Quirin asks Rapunzel if she’s seen Varian, and she’s like ‘oh shit, he ran out into the storm looking for you,’ and after Quirin has a mini heart attack, he races out into the storm after Varian, and Rapunzel chases after him, and they eventually reach Old Corona and find Varian sobbing into Eugene’s shoulder, while Eugene’s like, ‘I’m sure he’s fine,’ but of course Varian isn’t listening, but then Quirin is like, ‘SON!’ and Varian’s like ‘DAD!’”** _“No, really? That’s what he said?” (sarcastically)_ **“Shut up! And then they hug and everything is okay.”**

_“Same fic, but alternate version: Eugene convinces Varian to backtrack to the castle because he thinks Quirin might still be there, and so they head back while Rapunzel and Quirin head to Old Corona, and they miss each other, so then they’re all freaking out, so they decide to backtrack once again, and run into each other on the road in the middle of the storm, and that’s the happy ending.”_ **“Happy ending?!? That’s how they all get pneumonia and die!”** _“But they’ll all die together!”_ **“We are horrible people!”** _“Yes, we are!”_

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to let me know if you enjoyed this in the comments. If people like this, we might do it again in the future, but if you all are like, "what's wrong with these crazy idiots?" then this will be the first and last director's cut. Regardless of the outcome, stay tuned for your regularly scheduled fanfiction updates, including oneshots and Creeping Crystals, (as well as another multi-chapter fic I've been working on).


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